Bo and Alice
by Roxie Seine
Summary: Let's just say this is all the stuff I had to cut out of Sparks.
1. Chapter 1

Natalie led Alice through what was still a maze of boxes, and into the only room that was already completely decorated. Alice's sunshine yellow crib was against the wall, already laid out with her blue and white checkered bed quilt, and decorative white cotton and lace pillow. Her yellow bookshelf, rocking chair, and tea table were all placed appropriately around the room. Above the chair rail also the same sunshine buttery yellow, that ran the perimeter of the room, the wall was painted a sky blue. The ceiling, a cunning mural of sky with white floating clouds.

The mobile hanging above Alice's crib was only a slight contrast in palette, not theme. The mobile was of the solar system, dangling planets, small stars, around a central sun.

Natalie grinned with joy. "It's perfect," she breathed, stepping inside as if stepping into a fairy land.

"Dr. Skouras did a beautiful job with this room."

The rest of their space had been left to she and her husband to decorate and furnish as they saw fit. Natalie had only provided Skouras with a verbal description of Alice's old room back in France, with only that it was a simple blue and yellow.

Alice, her hand clasped about her mother's fingers, stared uncomprehendingly up at her mother.

"It is quite nice," her husband, Robert Pierreson, agreed as he came up behind her, glasses streaked with dust and sweat, another box upon his hip.

"What do you think, Alyssa?" Her mother cooed at her, Alice understanding only the happy smile, her other name, and the emotions coming from her mother. "This is your new room!"

"Are we doing immersion, then?" Robert asked.

Natalie's cheeks reddened with embarrassment, French not being her native language by any means.

"It was your idea not to confuse her with two languages," she reminded him.

"She is old enough now, she can begin learning English now."

"You know better than anyone that the child's brain-"

"My love, please do not tell me about my own job. I say she can begin now, and now it must be."

Natalie sighed. "She's stubborn. She'll reject it simply because it's different."

"She's a child, Natalie. She'll do what we tell her."

Natalie made a scoffing noise as her husband left the doorway, carrying a box to their bedroom.

"That's what you think," she muttered.

Placing Alice's hard, blue Samsonite luggage on the floor by the wall, Natalie continued to take in the room, while Alice did the same, solo.

"Cherie," Robert called. "I'm going to check in with the office here."

"Okay," she called back, hearing the front door open and close in response.

Having left her mother's side during her incomprehensible speech to explore the room, Alice's eyes and hands quickly fell to a box of large crayons. With a gurgle of joy she grabbed for one and ran to the white wall.

Hand poised, a red crayon just touching the wall, Natalie's eyes took in the scene. "Alice, no!" She yelled, starting forward.

"Non!" She repeated in French. "Ne faites pas!" She ordered, slapping Alice's hand so that the crayon fell to the floor. The look on Alice's face seemed to teter on whether to cry, or slap her mother back.

"You are not going to make a mess of this room!"

Not understanding the words, but knowing the tone well, Alice grasped that her mother was not pleased. But why else would there be an entire wall of white paper and a box of crayons if they weren't for using?

"Settling in already, I see." At the sound of a new voice, Alice froze.

Natalie stood and stepped forward with quick steps, her hands extended outward. Clasping Skouras' two hands in her own, a gesture she'd learned to do in the French village they'd just left, she smiled gratefully at him.

"This is simply beautiful, Dr. Skouras," she gushed.

"We're all so happy to have you here, Mrs. Pierreson. It was no trouble at all."

"And so thoughtful to have this room done so Alice can be out of the way."

Skouras offered only a humble head bow. "It was nothing, really, Natalie. May I call you, Natalie?"

Suddenly shy, her cheeks reddened. "Of course," she laughed self-conciously, brushed a chunk of hair behind her ear.

"And this," he looked past Natalie to the tiny toddler behind her, "must be Alice!"

He bent at the knee till he knelt on the floor and held a hand out to her.

Alice stared with wide eyes at the strange man, but stared in silent shock.

"She isn't used to strangers," Natalie was quick to apologize.

"I'm sure," Skouras murmered in response, his eyes not leaving Alice. Natalie quickly moved to stand behind Alice, nudging her forward. It wouldn't do for her to disappoint the man who'd made it possible to come back to America.

Being pushed from behind by her mother's hands, and Alice digging her heels into the floor resisting the idea, she quickly tumbled forward, nearly somersaulting over herself onto the floor. This getting her closer to the strange man, Alice desperately scrambled up, pulling on her mother's pant legs to gain leverage, then quickly waddled to stand behind her mother, just as she'd just done.

Skouras' laugh rang out.

"A little shy, I see."

Natalie bit back a smile and the words that her daughter was anything but shy, opting instead to say nothing about it. Then, worried that Skouras might somehow doubt Alice's abilities and send them all packing again, she quickly walked over to the tall dresser table, taking up the book that lay upon it. To demonstrate her daughter's strength, and justify Skouras' faith in them, she looked at Alice, who was quickly toddling after her and called,

"Alice, catch!" As she gently tossed the book in front of her daughter, carefully in case she did not catch it, so as it wouldn't appear that she were simply wilfully throwing things at her only child, like an abusive parent.

Alice stopped still, staring at her mother in shock as the book fell to the floor.

Natalie suddenly began to laugh.

"What is it?" Skouras asked.

"She wouldn't catch it," she gasped, trying to control her laughter and failing. "She said "I'm not a dog!", she laughed aloud, "she thought I was ordering her around like a dog!" Getting the words out she finally laughed until she needed to grab onto the dresser to keep herself from collasping onto the floor.

Skouras' eyes brightened. "You can hear your daughter's thoughts?"

"Of course," she answered with simple frankness. "And usually she would catch it. I think it was just unsettling to have someone else stare at her."

As if reading her own worries, Skouras replied, "My dear Natalie, you don't have to prove anything to me. Your husband, Dr. Pierreson, is an asset to this organization. And let's not forget I have already witnessed for myself the remarkable powers that your daughter has-"

"Well, yes," Natalie interuppted. "But when she didn't know anyone was watching."

"That's quite all right," he smiled confidently up at her, still kneeling on the floor as he was, "once she gets to know me, I'm sure we'll all be one big, happy family."


	2. Chapter 2

A loud noise was bothering her dream. Natalie tried to tune it out, but the sound kept on. It wasn't Alice crying, so she ignored it and went back to sleep.

"Natalie?"

She woke up then, recognizing the voice, and realizing the sound was someone knocking at the door. "Oh, god," she groaned, putting a hand to her face, then thought about throwing the pillow over her head. Eyes still closed, she reached out a hand to the other side of the bed, hoping Robert would deal with this. The other side of the bed was empty.

Damn you and your productive job, she cursed.

"Natalie, are you home? It's Dr. Skouras."

"I know that," she grumbled, "why do you think I'm not running to the door?"

He knocked again. Natalie opened her eyes finally, and glanced at the clock. Nine thirty.

"Damn it," she cursed, rolling out of bed, and grabbed her robe.

Tying the sash, she rubbed at her bleary eyes as she made her way half-blind to the front door. It was no small feat, considering how disoriented she was, and the fact that she found herself indeed in completely unfamiliar surroundings. She and Robert had been up till past midnight unpacking boxes, but the place still looked like a disaster area.

When she tripped over an errant box she swore, stumbled, and got to the door, finally.

Opening it she saw a far too cheery Skouras, looking like a school boy on Sunday. She squinted and blinked. Staring at him was like looking at the sun.

"What is it, Dr. Skouras?" She mumbled the words and only belatedly hoped he wouldn't think she was drunk.

Skouras' face showed embarrassment before his words did. "I'm sorry Natalie, I forgot about the time difference. You must be terribly jet-lagged."

Sorry enough to leave?

"But-"

Nope.

"I was wondering if you and Alice would like to join us in the community dining room for breakfast."

He was way too happy about this. Way too cheery. Natalie wondered if he didn't also manufacture some sort of drugs as well.

She was going to just say flat out no, then remembered Alice. Having a child had proven to be an awfully good excuse for things. If you wanted to go somewhere, you simply say you need to get something for your child. If you don't want to go somewhere, you say that your child is napping or sick.

How can I use Alice to get out of this?

Just then Alice came walking into the room like a groggy tettering drunk, or, as it happened, like a toddler who hadn't mastered walking, yawned, and stopped in surprise to see a strange man at the door. She looked at her mother, then at the man, made a dramatic groan of annoyance and placed her hand on her forehead as if she had a pounding headache. Natalie choked down laughter at Alice's comic display, then watched as she then walked towards her and threw her little body at their side of the door. To her happy surprise she realized that Alice was trying to close the door on Skouras, and that she was actively responding to Natalie's own thoughts of wanting the man gone.

As the door began to close on him, Natalie said apologetically, "Maybe we should try another time. I don't think Alice got enough sleep last night."

Dr. Skouras waved away the fake apology with a hand and nodded. "Of course," he answered, still smiling too damn much.

Before he could say another word, Alice slammed the door in his face. Shoving her fist in her mouth so she didn't laugh aloud, Natalie did nothing to stop her.

Alice laughed so hard she fell to the floor, tickled by her mother's internal laughter, if not understanding the reason for it.

Once Skouras had left, Natalie began to laugh, too. When she'd exhausted herself she sat on the carpeted floor in her robe and stared at Alice. It was true that having a baby that could read your mind did come in helpful, like when she wanted to sleep in, or when she wanted Alice to be quiet.

However, as Alice had grown older, she could read more than just simple emotions like exhaustion and joy. She'd just managed to come to her mother's rescue and do exactly what Natalie had wanted to do- slam the door in Skouras' face.

Looking at Alice, Natalie was already sure she was reading her mother's fear of her mind reading, and that Natalie was currently wondering about the damage her kid could do

Alice began to laugh the laugh of a maniacal evil cartoon villain, because that was what her mother was thinking about.

"Oh god Alice," Natalie spoke, "you're gonna be trouble."

Alice grinned in answer, her eyes shining with what Natalie swore was anticipation.


	3. Chapter 3

(Pronunciation help- note French is not my forte, but I'm trying. Salut-Sahloo. Beau-Bo. The rest are easy enough.

"Salut, Alice!"

Alice stood stock-still in the middle of the living room floor as the man Mama didn't like walked in through the front door, and pocketed the key, before placing the packages in his hands on the coffee table in the living room.

'I see your mother left for a little bit."

Uncomprehending, Alice stared as the man nodded to the girl Mama had told her would watch her. The girl left and closed the door behind her.

Bothered by this, Alice stared wide-eyed ready to begin screaming. She opened her mouth to do just that when something caught her eye.

"I brought this for you Alice," Skouras smiled at her, opening one of the packages and holding out an iced chocolate cupcake in one hand, then a brightly wrapped package in the other.

Not used to gifts, Alice kept her mouth open, but this time it wasn't to scream.

"Wado!" She crowed, reaching out with her hands to the present in Skouras' left hand.

He chuckled and grinned. "Yes, Alice the cadeau is for you. C'est pour toi, cherie!"

Alice reached for it again, but Skouras pulled it back, saying as he did so, "Alice, tu me connasaie? Tu sais mon nom, Alice?"

Alice shook her head. Skouras smiled again as he said, "Je m'appelle Roman. Je veut etre ton Oncle Roman. Est-ce que tu l'aime ca?"

Alice nodded, but it wasn't certain if it was in answer, to an attempt to get the gift.

"Alice, dit Oncle Roman." He smile.

Alice stared at him.

"Dit, Ro-man" He pronounced the word slowly.

"Wo," she began, "min."

Having placed both bribes on the floor Skouras grinned and clapped his hands in a joyous manner.  
"Tres bien! Tres, tres bien Alice! Je sais que tu peux l'dire!"

"Dites, "Oncle"," he began again, looking steadily into her blue eyes.

"Onc," she repeated.

"Roman," he finished.

"Wo-min," she whispered.

Skouras smiled. "Oncle Roman."

"Onc Wo-min!"

Skouras drew her to him in a hug, kissing her on both cheeks, in a manner she'd be accostumed to.

"Tres bien! Tu veut mange de petite gateau avec ton Oncle Roman?"

Wide eyed, she nodded widly.

"Est-ce que tu veux ouvrir ton cadeau ou mange de gateau le premiere?"

Alice bit her lip and concentrated, demonstrating her understanding of language to be greated than her ability to speak it audibly. But that was not problem for Skouras. He figured she'd be speaking well in both French and English soon.

"De gateau," she answered.

"Tres bien, Alice," he smiled and handed her the entire cupcake. Not bothering with utensils, Alice simply opened her mouth and began to eat the cupcake. The cupcake being nearly as large as her head, she succeeded in smearing its frosting all over her face before her mouth was actually able to bite down into the cake itself. White frosting hung off her nose and cheeks, with several chunks clinging to the curls about her face.

Roman Skouras laughed. "It looks more like the cupcake is trying to eat you Alice, than vise versa."

Alice looked at him and laughed.

When she finally admitted defeat with only half the cupcake devoured, Skouras held up the present he had for her.

Eager, if getting sleepy, Alice made a grab for the gift, shredding its wrappings easily and with delight. Skouras helped her lift the box's lid, then sat back and watched as Alice picked up a stuffed multi-colored butterfly, a stuffed brown rabbit, and a stuffed toy turtle.

He grinned in pure happiness watching Alice's joy in her eyes as she stared, her eyes and mouth all wide and round as saucers.

Finally she tried to embrace all the toys at once, sending them flying through the air.

"Beaux! Beaux! Beaux!" She shrieked the word, and continuing to shriek in joy she clapped her hands and screamed with excitement watching the toys float around in the air.

"Beaux!" She screamed, standing up and facing the nearest toy, the butterfly.  
"Beaux!" She yelled at it, and shrieked when it flew up higher. "Beaux!"

She ran up to the rabbit, now resting on the ground. She stomped her foot in front of it, and cried out again, "Beaux!" Thinking the word was a command and the reason for this unusual display. As expected, the rabbit jumped up into the air to once again join the butterfly.

She ran up to the turtle that had landed on the floor. Grabbing it with both hands she threw it up into the air. She jumped up. "Beaux!" She cried, and jumped again. "Beaux!" And jumped again yelling louder, "Beaux!"

With the third jump and exclaimation, Alice rose into the air with the turtle, just as she was grabbing for it.

Amazed at this magic, Alice simply stared wide-eyed as she floated through space, as weightless as her new toys.

"Yes," Skouras' eyes were bright watching this unexpected display of power, "they are nice. I don't know if I'd use the word handsome. American girls would say pretty, and they'd use the feminine form for just about everything so the French equivelent would be "belle".

Rising from the floor, slightly misty-eyed at this extreme display of power, Skouras gently reached out to control where Alice floated to, as well as to catch her when her powers stopped working and she fell.

From above him, she looked down and answered him. "Non, beaux."

"Whatever you say. You are a very strong little girl, Alice," he muttered, smiling into the face that smiled back at him.

Alice pointed and grabbed for the toys as they floated past her.

"Mein Beaux!" She announced with certainty as she grabbed and held the stuffed turtle.

Skouras laughed. "Yes," he kissed her curled hair, "they're yours. Everything here is yours, little Alice. Everything."

He sighed and held her to him, though she was still weightless in the air.

"Oh the things you will be able to do," he spoke the words quietly as if making a promise to himself.

The front door creaked open then, and rapid footsteps were heard.

"Doctor Skouras," Natalie stepped forward and reached for Alice, not bothering to hide her alarm, "What are you doing here? How did you get into our house?"


	4. Chapter 4

"You told him I was anti-social?"

"Well, I had to think of something, didn't I?"

"Your genius brain couldn't come up with something better than that?"

Robert and Natalie were sitting in their living room, after having lunch and having put Alice down for a nap. Robert had made the mistake of speaking to Dr. Skouras about his wife's reaction to finding him in their home, and had explained Natalie's cold reception of Skouras of late to her innately anti-social behavior. He'd then made the mistake of telling his wife about it.

"Certainly." He answered her sarcastic response with honesty. "I could have told him the truth. I could have told him that you compared him to a Jehovah's Witness, a jailer, and that he annoyed you like a yapping dog by coming to the door and expecting you to pay attention to him, his wanting you to participate in the program."

Natalie sighed sharply.

"He broke into our house!"

"He had a key."

"To our house!"

"His house, Natalie, his property. We are living here on his whim, be grateful. And he was here to check on Alice."

Natalie rolled her eyes and sighed with disgust, holding the latest issue of Cosmo magazine up over her face. She wasn't reading it, she was using it so she wouldn't have to look at Robert, who she'd been extremely pissed off at since last night, when he'd had no reaction to finding out that Roman Skouras had been alone in their house with Alice.

"Oh, pardonez-moi, what I intended to say is, he wanted to see Alice." He paused. "Is that what really bothers you? That he cares more for Alice than for you? Don't forget that she is the reason we are here."

_He might care more about me if I were stupid enough to show all my powers to him._

"And would it kill you to participate in some of the activities with the other residents here?"

Natalie made a screeching sound. "What? You want me to play those stupid tests with the mindless people here? One of the idiots here talked to me like I was younger than Alice!" She changed her voice to match the woman's, its sickening patronizing and sing song tone. "Natalie," she mimicked, "would you like to make this block float for me?"

_She'd been holding Alice by two hands in the hall, as they'd been exploring the inner campus buildings._

_Natalie's mouth had dropped open in shock at how infantiliazing the woman was being. It was as if the woman had asked if she could recite the alphabet._

_Alice seemed to recover before she did. Throwing the palm of her hand to her forehead, Alice closed her eyes and groaned as if in pain, shaking her head wildly. "Tupide, tupide, tupide," she muttered. Natalie barely managed to choke back her laughter._

_Stooping to pick Alice up, Natalie began walking sideways away from the woman. "No thanks," she answered. "Try that on the kids. Unless," she corrected herself, "you actually meant that question for Alice here."_

_"I thought she didn't speak English yet." _

_"She barely speaks anything at all."_

_"Then no," the woman answered. "I was asking the question of you, Mrs. Pierreson." _

_"In that case, definitely no," she answered, and hurried away down the hall with Alice._

"Natalie!" Robert was offended.

"No," Natalie answered quickly, "these people are brain dead if they don't realize they're being tested like lab rats! Yet, they all wear these stupid smiles, like Skouras is doing them a favor, and they're grateful."

"They are grateful," Robert's voice was terse. "They have a place to live and food to eat. They are surrounded by others like them. They are stigmatized or institutionalized for their powers. They aren't punished for being themselves. I'm sure if you thought about yourself, you'd realize how lucky you are-compared to some other people."

The crack about her mother and Nina both being instatutionalized didn't go unnoticed. Natalie glared at him.

"I didn't know we were moving here so that my every move could be watched, and have people, oh I mean Dr. Skouras come knocking at the door every morning like Room Service. There's no such thing as privacy here. I'm sure this room is bugged, with cameras everywhere."

"Don't be so dramatic," he chidded. "I thought you were happy to be coming here."

Natalie rolled her eyes and loudly flipped another page of Cosmo. "Happy to be coming back to America, yes," she answered tersely, "happy to be here? Now that we're here and know what this place is all about? No."

"I didn't sign up to be in a jail. To be a test subject."

"Natalie, don't over-react."

"I see you!" She threw down the magazine and looked up at him. "I see what you do in those offices! You test those teens and those mindless adults like lab rats!"

Robert sighed as if both exhausted and grieved by his wife's lack of insight. "Simple tests, Natalie. If these people don't learn to control their powers they could do themselves a great harm."

Natalie eyed him seriously. "These people?!" Her voice cracked. "You sure he hasn't done these tests on you?"

"Are you implying something, my dear?"

"Yes, my dear," Natalie's tone was acidic. "You sound an awful lot like Skouras."

"Doctor Skouras," he corrected.

"If this place isn't a jail, why can't I leave?"

"Where would you go? There is nothing but trees and forest for miles. Not to mention wild animals. There are bears in these woods," he reminded her.

"I think I'd be safer with the bears," Natalie grumbled, burying her face once again, behind her magazine.

PAGE BREAK ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Once Alice was awake in her crib, and Robert had gone back to work as a minion of Skouras, Natalie decided that she and Alice would go exploring. Natalie was eager to get away for a while, and a walk with Alice proved to be the perfect solution.

Alice, strapped into her canvas stroller, Natalie walked along the paved walk ways that went in front of their house. From this vantage-point it was easy to see the forest, mere steps away, but nothing could be seen through the trees. Even so, she knew that the entire campus was in the middle of a dense forest, likely one of the few left on the continent. A road was there, somewhere within the mass of trees, but it was private, constucted for Skouras' ease. Even so, it was a good ten minute drive before one hit the main highway that bi-sected the forest, several miles away.

When Natalie looked to her right, she could see the main campus building, where most of the super people hung out during the day, the adjacent attached campus buildings that held classrooms and observation rooms, and further down the dormatory wings, and other campus buildings like the infirmary. Skouras' helicopter was visible was well, at a distance that was just discernable.

"Mrs. Pierreson?"

Natalie stopped still, on the rise of a hill now, having gone off the paved trail to explore.

Turning around she saw a young woman walking towards her at a calm but rapid pace. She was smiling congenially. Natalie knew better than to believe the lie.

_Oh god._ She closed her eyes so her rolling them wasn't visible.

The woman smiled extending a hand to shake as she reached her. Natalie acquiesed, reluctantly.

"I'm Angela." She kept smiling. Natalie found it unnerving.

The new minion of Skouras glanced into Alice's stroller, her smile broadening.

"I see you're taking Alice out for a walk?"

Natalie couldn't tell why the woman was there, but she knew it wasn't for a good reason. Biting back an acerbic response, she managed to answer simply, "Yes."

"That's wonderful!"

_Lie._

"But," Angela Annoying tilted her head to the side like a dog, and gave Natalie a disapproving smile, "I'm afraid perhaps some of Symponique's rules haven't been explained to you."

With a pitying look she continued. "You see, we do encourage physical activity here, of course, but what with our location we feel it simply isn't safe to simply wander at will-as you seem to be doing. We like to have everyone where we can easily see them and have access to them, should they ever need medical attention."

"Like a playground." Natalie just stared hard at her in disbelief. But, this crazy Angela chick kept yapping.

"Exactly!" Angela looked relieved as if Natalie's answer were indicating agreement.

"We like to have everyone enjoy their physical activity, walks, whathaveyou, just behind the main campus building. There are games, and plenty of room for a walk."

Natalie gave her a terse smile. "I don't want to walk over there."

"I understand, Mrs. Pierreson, really. But we do have to think of the others here. If they saw you walking around outside the given parameters, they'd want to do the same."

"Christ, that's anarchy."

Angela laughed as if Natalie'd been joking and not showing her utter disapproval.

At that, Alice slapped her hand to her forehead and groaned, shaking her head back and forth.

"Oh," Angela Idiot grinned down at Alice, "she is so cute. You're so cute, Alice, you know that?"

As she drew nearer to Alice in a crouch, Alice drew back against her stroller, getting away.

"Tu tupide." She answered.

Angela smiled. "That's so cute!" She looked at Natalie. "What did she say?"

At this Natalie gave a genuine smile. "She said you're cute, too."

At that, Alice cackled with wild laughter, kicking her feet against the rail of the stroller.

Angela straightened back up and looked at Natalie, continuing her speech.

"So, you see we really can't have you walking around here."

"What about the paved trail?"

"That's not a walking trail. As I said we'll need you to only be outside in the courtyard. It's one of the reasons your 'house' is connected to the main unit by a hallway- that way you don't ever have to go outside to go anywhere."

"Oh, golly."

Finally, tired of the charade, Natalie was frank. "Look Angela, let me tell you how it's gonna be. I'm going to be an adult, and I'm going to be responsible for myself and my child and I'm pretty much gonna do whatever the hell I want. I hope that suits you."

With that she spun around and began wheeling Alice to the other side of the grass, back nearer the house, intentionally staying far from the walkway.

"And Natalie," Angela called after her. "We need to talk about the uniform-"

"I don't work here, this isn't a private school, and if it were I'm not enrolling. I'm gonna wear what I want, and my kid's gonna wear what I want her to wear. We're not wearing that ugly shit you give to the mental masses."


	5. Chapter 5

I'm all, the Alice thing will take like, 3 chapters. Then we can move on to Bo stuff. The story's all NO! I'm gonna make it take like 10 million chapters! Ugh.

Story-

"Alice," Natalie called. "C'est temp de releve. Le dodo fini."

She said this as she opened the nursery door, and stepped inside. When she saw an empty crib, Natalie wasn't too concerned. She simply reached out with her mind to see where in the room her daughter was hiding.

She wasn't there. She wasn't anywhere. Realizing that someone had taken Alice from her crib while Natalie herself had been napping, Natalie panicked.

Flinging their house door open, Natalie ran down the hall like a woman possessed. Searching out her child with her mind, she ran past the lounge and into the medical ward. Her shoes pounding against the stone hall floor, she shoved people and carts out of her way, blond hair flying behind her. She passed another room, then stopped and turned back.

Alice was sitting on top of a table. A strange man in a white coat stood next to her, a hand to her back. The other stacking alphabet blocks. Another glance showed both Dr. Skouras and her own husband standing in windowed room attached to this, watching. Then Natalie saw the wires coming out of her child's head, attached to her skin.

With a scream of fury and terror, Natalie yanked the door open.

"Get away from my daughter!" She screamed, scooping Alice into her arms and yanking the tangle of wires from her head with one swift pull. Holding Alice to her protectively, she ran from the room.

"Natalie!"

She heard Robert's voice, now far behind her as she headed to the closest exit, a locked fire door.

She head Skouras' voice too. "Make your wife stop," he spoke coldly. "I want Alice back here."

"Natalie, stop!" He yelled.

And that's when Natalie knew she needed to either kill the man she was married to, or divorce him. Coming up to the door, she blew it open with her mind, ignoring her promise not to show the full strength of her powers around Roman Skouras. Without breaking her stride she continued to run across the lawn, intent on reaching the forest, nearly a quarter mile away.

"Can't leave here my ass," she muttered, instantly making herself and Alice disappear into thin air.

A few moments later, Natalie, not having made herself travel via floating, let alone travel a great distance while invisible and doing the same for another body, reappeared.

She was still holding Alice clutched tightly. Looking behind her, Symphonique couldn't be seen, but, the outline of a road was just ahead. Knowing that time was of the essence, she closed her eyes and reached out with her mind in order to time her next move perfectly.

At the right moment she made herself and Alice appear at the side of the road. Natalie stuck out her thumb, hitch-hiker style, and the truck coming around the bend stopped. Natalie was glad of this, but had planned to stop the truck if its driver wasn't so inclined.

"Stranded, eh?" A deep cheery voice sounded from the bed of the truck. Natalie tossed Alice up on the seat, then pulled herself up next to her and slammed the door.

"You might say that," she breathed, winded and exhausted.

"You headed to town?"

She simply nodded.

The man didn't say another word the rest of the drive. When they got to a cobblestone street lined with vintage facade businesses, Natalie simply pointed her finger a block away from what she hoped was a bank and said,

"Right here is our stop, sir."

The man nodded, his green nylon cap nodding with him. The car squealed to a stop, as Natalie opened the door of the truck. It creaked in protest, but swung open, allowing Natalie to reach over for Alice, who'd sat silently the whole time as well, and hop down from the truck.

"Thanks so much!" She called, smiling, and slammed the door shut. The old truck rolled away, leaving Natalie and Alice alone.

Too tired to carry Alice, Natalie put her down on the ground, and listlessly led her by the hand across the street and into a small grassy area with benches. When they'd been sitting for a while, Natalie perked up and announced,

"I know what we need to do!"

As she stood up, Alice climbed down from the bench, still silent, and took Natalie's hand.

Without explanation Natalie walked them down to the bank. Just across the street she paused and closed her eyes. After only a moment she opened them, and tightening her grip on Alice's hand, she led her across the street with a joyous, confident step. As she picked Alice up to get her over the curb, she mentally made one of Alice's shoes come undone. Then, placing her back down, she again took up her daughter's hand and continued on to the bank.

At the west wall of the bank, the side with no windows, Natalie stopped walking and pointed down at Alice's foot, exclaiming, "Alice, your shoelace is untied! I better tie it so you don't lose your shoe."

By now Alice had figured out that something was up. But, not able to decipher it, she remained silent and stuck out her foot so that her shoe could be tied.

Natalie knelt down in the grass, using one hand on the bank wall to steady herself, then she placed her purse on the ground as well so as to keep it from falling forward. Thus unencombered it was easy work to tie the shoe. She stayed as she was kneeled on the ground, and closed her eyes as she checked Alice's other shoe. In a moment she opened her eyes and reached for her purse. Lifting it onto her shoulder, she used the wall again and Alice's shoulder to steady herself as she stood up.

"Now," she smiled at Alice, "we can tell people that you got to visit the bank today. Le banc," she repeated in French.

Taking up Alice's hand again, she led her around to the front of the building, and through the heavy glass doors.

"Hi," the teller smiled, "and what can I do for you today?"

"I just wanted to bring my daughter in to see what a bank looks like," Natalie smiled back and lifted Alice up so that she could be seen.

"Oh, she's adorable!" The teller gushed and reached for a glass jar to her right. "What's her name?"

"Nina."

"Nina," the teller smiled, "would you like a lollypop?"

Alice still didn't know much english but she had learned the words for candy. While she didn't like being called the wrong name, she nodded eagerly.

"Red or purple?"

The woman held up two lollypops of different colors. Concentrating hard, Alice knew she just had to say the same word or words back to get the prize.

"Wed!" She yelled. It was easier to say than the other word.

Natalie grinned with joy and Alice could feel her happiness, but her mom didn't say anything.

The woman handed Alice the red lollypop and Natalie put her back down on the floor. "Thank you so much," she smiled at the teller as she began to lead Alice ahead of her to the doors.

"Happy to help," the teller called back.

Back outside however, Natalie gave a shrill squeal and spun Alice around in the air.

"You spoke English! Good girl!"

She squeezed her tight in a hug before putting her down on the sidewalk.

"Wed," Alice repeated, liking the sound of it.

"Here," Natalie grabbed for the sucker, "let me get the plastic off." She undid the candy and handed it back to Alice. "Don't choke on that now."

Alice grabbed the sweet and put it in her mouth.

"Wed!" She cried around the sucker as she jumped forward on the sidewalk.

"Wed! Wed! Wed! Wed!"

She jumped down the walk, until Natalie pulled on her hand.

"Stop it, you'll choke," she ordered, reining Alice in at her side.

They walked on through the streets of the downtown in silence for a while. Finally Natalie looked down at Alice, still grinning and sticky with red sugar sweet all over her hands and face.

"Now we need to find a car that's for sale."

Alice looked at her, confused wonder why she could no longer understand the words her mother spoke.


	6. Chapter 6

Natalie let out a sudden scream, and Alice felt herself pulled backward until she fell.

Looking up, she saw that a tall man had run into them, coming from the other direction.

"Sorry lady," he muttered, avoiding eye contact, and continued on his way.

"Well, hello to you, too," Natalie scoffed, letting out her breath finally, as she helped Alice to her feet.

"You okay sweetie?" She looked into Alice's blue eyes and over her white skin for injuries or blood. Seeing none, she relaxed slightly.

But Alice wasn't paying any attention to her mother at all. She was watching that man that had run into them. Alice stared hard, confused by something. Then she closed her eyes and tried to figure out just what it was that confused her.

A swift smack on the head was an answer, though not what she'd been looking for.

"Stop that!" Natalie hissed. "Remember what I told you, you only do that when we're alone! You'll get in big trouble and maybe even get arrested. People will chase you down!"

Alice didn't understand a single word or phrase other than the physical reproach, and "stop it", her mother used that with her often enough to understand it meant she was doing something her mother didn't like. That, and she'd better stop unless she wanted to get hit again.

Alice looked in the direction the man had gone. Now he was tinier than her finger. Finally her face lit up with understanding.

"Bo!"

"What?" Her mother looked at her as if she'd lost her mind.

Alice pointed eagerly at the figure of the man quickly dissappearing from view.

"Bo!" She repeated, jumping up and down with excitement.

Natalie looked at her daughter with revulsion. "You think that guy's cute?" Her voice was shrill and heavy with disapproval.

Not understanding a word Alice simply nodded and smiled, pointing. "Bo!"

Natalie shook her head. "You've got strange taste in men, Alice," her voice was grave. "That loser looked like he just fell off a train or something," again she shook her head until it seemed it might fly off. "Guys like that are nothing but trouble."

With that, she grabbed Alice's sticky hand and pulled her along beside her, still intent on finding a car with a for sale sign.

"Don't let me ever catch you trying to bring home someone like that," Natalie's voice droned on. "Like bringing home a stray dog with rabies you think you can save." Natalie gave a short snort of derision then a laugh. "Like your Aunt Nina. Good lord, talk about a lost cause. Thinks she can save everyone. Know what happens to girls like that?"

Her mother'd stopped talking, so Alice finally looked at her.

"They get used and abused their whole lives."

"Don't be like that, Alice. Guys like that will ruin your whole life."

Alice had stopped listening when she realized her mother wasn't speaking in French. Instead, trying to make her mother understand what she was thinking, she pulled at Natalie's purse and smiled. That got her mother's attention. She stopped talking and looked down at her.

Alice pulled at her mother's purse, then pointed back at the man.

"Mama, Bo!"

"What?"

She tugged harder at the purse and pointed with emphasis at the man walking away.

"Alice," Natalie struggled to remain patience, but was nearing the end of her own, "I don't know what you're talking about. Come on," with that she pulled Alice along behind her.

Using her mind, it didn't take Natalie long to find a car in the neighborhood with a price tag attached to it. The price was right, and if the thing worked, Natalie figured she might as well take it. After all, she wasn't strong enough to really teleport herself anywhere, let alone herself and Alice.

When she rang the bell, a grandmotherly woman answered the door with a smile.

"Can I help you dear?"

Natalie couldn't help smiling back. "I was wondering about the car you have for sale."

"Oh!" The woman's eyes lit up. "That! Yes, of course. It still runs just fine, my husband always saw to that, but," she sighed heavily, "now that he's not here you see, I don't have need for it. I don't drive, myself. There's no need to in a town this size."

The woman stopped talking and eyed Natalie and Alice.

"But you're not from here."

"No," Natalie answered with a shake of the head. "I was wondering if you'd let me take it for a little test drive?"

"Of course dear," the woman smiled, lifting a key from a nail in the wall, letting Natalie take it, then placing a hand on Alice's shoulder. "You take a spin around, and I'll keep the little girl here. There's no car seat in a car so old, and I don't see that you've brought one with you."

Smart. The woman was smart. With an understanding smirk, Natalie pushed Alice towards the old woman.

"Stay here, Alice," she ordered. "Mama will be back soon."

As she walked to the car she thought to herself, that woman's no fool. Keeping my kid for collateral isn't a bad idea. Don't return the car, don't get the kid back.

When she'd closed the car door after herself, she opened up her purse, looking at the wrapped stacks of hundred dollar bills. And in that instant she realized why Alice had been pulling at her purse while pointing to the guy who'd knocked them over. They'd both just finished robbing the same bank.

It's not the same thing, she told herself as she drove down the roads and highways. I'm doing this to protect myself and my daughter from this insane cult. He's just stealing because he's a greedy idiot who's too lazy to work.


	7. Chapter 7

"Alicina,"

Alice Adams felt a hand brush against her cheek, and heard a voice calling her.

"Alice- Nina, Alice girl, wake up baby."

Realizing the voice was unknown, Alice opened her eyes.

Outlined by the bars of her crib in the afternoon light, and the shadow cast by the crib's mobile, Alice saw a woman with blonde curls and dark brown eyes leaning over her.

She smiled at her. "Hi sweetheart," she smiled in a way that was somewhat conspiritorial. "You can see me, can't you?"

Alice kept staring at her. For a minute she'd thought it was Mama, but that wasn't so. She didn't look like Mama and didn't talk like Mama. Young Alice concentrated, trying to figure it out. This person knew her, so she should know this person as well.

The woman ran a hand over her hair. "You have my curls, your mother's temper already, and coloring like Nina. All your family, the important ones anyway, are all reflected in your own little face."

Finally after staring a long long time, Alice grinned. "Gamma!"

White teeth gleamed and her eyes crinkled with a smile.

"I knew you'd know me!"

The nursery door creaked on its hinges.

"Mom?"

Alice perked up at the sound of her mother's voice, and saw her staring in shock at the woman standing over Alice's crib.

"Mom!"

Alice had pushed herself up to sitting, grabbing the bars of the crib, and saw her mother run to Gamma, but the other woman held up a hand.

"If you try to hug me, you'll end up on the floor, dear."

Alice watched her mother freeze in place.

"So you are dead." Natalie sighed. "I had a feeling."

"Yes, it appears that way."

"What are you doing here?"

"I can't believe it took my own death to allow me to see my own grandchild. What possessed you to go half way around the world to-"

"I got married, Mom."

"Yes, and left your poor sister to fend for herself."

"Sorry," she sighed. "It was for her own good, trust me. It would've hurt too much if I stayed."

"I understand how difficult my leaving was for you two, and what happened to me and to Nina scares you. But I cannot forgive you for leaving Nina, you don't have my excuse."

"She was twenty-two years old!"

"A baby!" Alice watched her Gamma's face darken as she objected. "You're hardly more than one yourself," she added, "though you won't realize that till your nearer my age. "

A silence fell then, that neither bothered to break. Natalie's mother ran a hand over Alice's head.

"You see it in her already, don't you?" Mrs. Adams was looking at Alice.

Reaching into the crib, Mama picked her up and nodded.

Bringing the conversation back, Mrs. Adams asked, "And have you spoken with your sister since coming back to the states?"

She shrugged. "I called to make sure she was okay. She said she was going away for a while-not back into treatment- she found a new place and wouldn't be able to call me for a while."

Mrs. Adams shook her head. "Wouldn't you know but she's paired up with a man who acts exactly like you. Some form of rebellion, I'm sure." She shook her head again. "But at least you've got some sense about you." She shook her head ruefully announcing with a cryptic tone, "That one's gonna end up in prison."

"I can't do anything about who she dates, Mom."

Alice wriggled out of her mother's arms and put her hands on the rail of her crib. "Bore. Down now."

The older woman laughed. "Barely knows English, but still a willful little thing."

"You have no idea," Natalie answered as she placed Alice back in her crib.

"I raised you, didn't I?"

Natalie's face reddened, but glad to have someone to vent to, she spoke up.

"She says she wants cookies, I tell her she can't have any. Five seconds later she's chomping away on the cookies I said she couldn't have, because she made them float down from their spot in the cupboard."

"She doesn't like it when you say no to her."

"Little kids shouldn't be allowed to have super powers," Natalie grumbled with firm conviction.

Mrs. Adams laughed aloud. "Now you know what it felt like raising you. It's every parents' revenge to have a grandchild to plaugue their children to death."

"But I didn't have such strong powers."

"No, but your stubborn will more than made up for it, you'd climb up on anything to get to something you wanted."

"And speaking of powers, my goodness Natalie, this place you've gotten yourself to is like a prison!"

"No it isn't."

"Although," she continued speaking as if her daughter hadn't spoken, "I suppose I should be grateful. Maybe Alice and Bo won't have to go through what I did. They say gifts like this skip a generation."

"Bo? Who's Bo? That Nina's boyfriend?"

smiled at her daughter. "You'll find out soon enough, I suspect. Can't be more than a few months, I think."

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

Mrs. Adams sighed again. "I'm sorry love, but I have to leave you now. Don't worry," she assured her, "when Alice is older she'll be able to explain a lot of this to you."

Natalie laughed. "What could she possibly tell me that I don't already know?"

Mrs. Adams just smiled, then looked down and addressed her granddaughter. "You be a good girl, Alice Nina."

Alice simply gave what could only be described as an evil grin and waved happily at the departing image of her grandmother.

With Mrs. Adams gone, Natalie turned to her daughter with suspicion. "You know what she's talking about, don't you?"

Alice grinned and gave an evil laugh, happy to have a secret from her mother.


	8. Chapter 8

"This certainly explains a lot," Skouras muttered as if speaking only to himself, "or at least, it will."

With a pen he circled a line of dashes. "Genetic marker right here," he muttered again, pointing with his pen.

"Nina's marker here." Another circle.

"Bo's markers are here," another series of highlighting, "and here".

He glanced again at the print-out that caught his interest initially, nodding at it, then passed it across the table.

"File it."

"With Bo's documentation?" Corey asked this, but was already begining to place the image in Bo's file folder, after having replaced Bo's genetic test image back.

"No," Skouras answered, annoyed and shook his head. "Under T for Tate."

"He gets his own file?"

"He may not be living here yet, but under the circumstances, he should have his own file."

Corey bobbed his head. "Yes, Dr. Skouras."

Skouras switched on the monitor and smiled as the image of a sleeping Bo Adams appeared, floating in mid air over her crib. Annoyed that Corey was still in the room, he spat out, "I believe you have work to do, Corey, as do I."

"Yes, Dr. Skouras."

Skouras didn't look after him as he meekly walked to the exit.

Once Corey left, Roman let out an audible sigh, and opened his wallet. He sighed again when his eyes fell on Alice's photo. And again when he flipped the wallet closed. And again when he stared at floating, sleeping Bo.

"Where are you, Alice? In all this world, I cannot believe you're gone. I will not believe it. I will do whatever it takes to bring you back to me."

Then he looked at Bo and smiled an evil smile. If he knew anything at all about Alice... there was one thing that was sure to bring her out of the woodwork. She'd shown her powers to be strongest when protecting someone else. But, he considered, his idea would take time. And very careful planning. After all, it wouldn't be long until Milton Winter went the way of Robert Pierreson and his wife. In the meantime, he would learn every useful thing he could about Bo Adams, and simply wait. It wouldn't do to harm the girl Alice considered her best friend.

With another rather forelorn sigh, Skouras rose to his feet, announcing to the image, "I am not a patient man."

For the millionth time since misplacing Alice, Roman Skouras closed his eyes tightly and focused his entire being on a mental image of himself and Alice, and repeated the same phrase he always used.  
_"Alice, where are you? It's Uncle Roman, can you hear me? Can you still hear my thoughts? Where are you? Come home, Alice. I miss you. I love you. Come home. Find me." _

What he told his workers was another matter entirely. Both Symphonique and Orchestra were looking for girls Alice's age who were orphans, and perhaps exhibited either mental problems or strange beliefs of power. With each passing year, Skouras changed the age range and limits accordingly. However, only the staff at Symphonique knew that they were specifically looking for Alice Adams. It had been two years, Alice was now five years old. If she was still alive.

With another sigh, Roman switched off the monitor of Bo Adams and walked slowly out of the room.


End file.
